Violent Leeds criminal threatened police officers with blowtorch and said he would burn their faces off as he was caught going on 'burglary expedition'

Daniel Moss also ran at the officers with a hammer in an incident which one officer described as 'the most frightening time of his life'.

Repeated attempts by the officers to use a taser on Moss failed due to the thickness of his clothing.

Attempts to use pepper spray on the 32-year-old also failed as he was wearing a motorbike crash helmet.

Moss was riding a stolen motorbike when he was stopped by the officers in Burmantofts in the early hours of October 12 this year.

Jade Edwards, prosecuting, said officers were sent to the area after receiving reports of three men acting suspiciously..

One of the officers approached Moss as he was with a motorbike that did not have registration plates.

He was wearing a crash helmet at the time with the visor up.

Ms Edwards said Moss was carrying a rucksack and had a large metal hammer in his hand.

He was told to drop the weapon but refused.

The officers then pointed a taser at Moss but he still failed to drop the hammer.

The prosecutor said: "The taser was deployed but it didn't work due to the thickness of his clothing."

Moss then raised the hammer and lunged towards the officer.

A second attempt to use the taser also failed.

An attempt to use pepper sprayed did not work because he was wearing the helmet.

Moss tried to escape on the motorbike.

A second officer came to help his colleague and aimed his taser at Moss.

The defendant fell from the machine then got to his feet and ran towards one of the officers.with the hammer.

Ms Edwards said: "The officer said it was one of the most frightening times of his life.

"He (Moss) was very angry and the officer believed he would use the weapon."

Two further attempts to taser Moss failed before a final attempt caused him to fall to the floor.

Moss then picked up a blowtorch. Ms Edwards added: "He said he would use the blow torch to burn their faces off."

The officers managed to restrain Moss and take the hammer from him.

Other tools in the rucksack included bolt croppers, a wrench, a file and mole grips.

Also in the area near to the defendant was a bag containing jewellery which he tried to kick away.

A crow bar and a petrol can were all found nearby.

Moss, of Tilbury Parade, Holbeck, pleaded guilty to two offences of assaulting an emergency worker, possessing an offensive weapon in public and going equipped for burglary.

He has previous convictions for robbery, burglary and assault. Moss was out of prison on licence at the time of the incident

Peter Byrne, mitigating, said Moss pleaded guilty to the offences at an early stage and accepted he would be facing more time in prison.

Moss was jailed for two years.

Sentencing, Judge Rodney Jameson told Moss he had been out on a "burglary expedition" when he was arrested.

He added: "It is as bad as it gets without causing injury - to confront some with a blow torch and make the threats that you did."